An illegal immigrant walked into a London immigration centre with a knife because he wanted to be deported, a court has heard.
Oluwaleke Yisa, a 30-year-old from Nigeria, told an immigration officer ‘I want to leave this f*****g country’ during an appointment at the Home Office’s Becket House, Bermondsey, on 20 August.
A large kitchen knife was then found on him and he told an officer it was ‘to stab people’, Inner London Crown Court heard.
Lawyers have now claimed his alarming behaviour was a desperate attempt to be sent home after spending seven years in London and becoming homeless.
Yisa was today jailed for eight weeks and told to contact the Nigerian embassy while he is in prison.
Describing the events on last month, prosecutor Nicholas Mesure told the court: ‘Mr Yisa left his bag behind as he went through security… nobody bothered to make sure the bag was searched.
‘He went up to the counter and spoke to a member of staff. She asked him some of the standard questions, and he became very irritated and aggressive as the questions progressed.
‘He then said things like “I want to leave this f*****g country”.’
His bag was then searched and the knife found.
‘He said he had the item to stab people, which was obviously of some concern. He told the police that he was homeless.
‘He said he had been living in a church and had been thrown out of the church. He made it quite clear he did not want to be in the United Kingdom any longer.
‘He hasn’t been served deportation papers. I do not think immigration is treating him as a priority case.’
Yisa, of no fixed address, admitted possession of an offensive weapon.
Sentencing him to eight weeks in prison, Judge Donne told Yisa: ‘Whilst I must punish you for possession of an offensive weapon, I entirely understand the circumstances in which you came to commit this offence.
‘I do not really think you present a danger to anybody. This is an offence which passes the custodial threshold.’
‘After release you will remain under supervision for another year, unless you leave this country before then.
‘That is clearly what you want and it is what this country should want for you as well,’ added the judge.
‘I hope you are successful getting back to Nigeria. I strongly recommend you contact the Nigerian embassy, it will be able to assist you.’
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